ACCESS TRAINING HITS NEW HIGH

FEBRUARY SAW the highest monthly total ever receive a PASMA card: more than 7,500 delegates passed the necessary training. PASMA (Prefabricated Access Suppliers and Manufacturers Association) offered its congratulations to all the operatives and managers who are now out there working safely with towers after either getting trained for the first time, renewing their card or qualifying on a new tower configuration at one of its approved training centres.

The association pointed out that it shows how far they’ve come since May 2020 – at the height of lockdown – when fewer than 400 cards were issued. Since then, not only have COVID measures eased, but there is also a greater selection of revamped PASMA courses available to suit the needs of any workforce.

Announcing the achievement, PASMA said: “Safe working at height is vitally important, so it’s great news all round that demand for training has not only bounced back but is looking stronger than ever.”

One of the instructors leading those courses for the first time was Andrew Ingle, the newest PASMA instructor. Andrew passed his training, mentoring and final assessment in February and is now a freelance instructor who can run training courses for any of PASMA’s approved training centres.

Andrew started his career in arboriculture, where he unfortunately had a 13m fall from height: landing on concrete and breaking his back. It proved to be the inspiration for a career change further down the line, as he’s now a trainer who specialises in work at height. q